The Colorado House Judiciary Committee advanced Senate Bill 288 after a lengthy hearing and multiple amendments that limit the bill’s scope and add implementation details for AI‑generated images.

Sponsors said the bill updates existing laws that criminalize the nonconsensual disclosure of intimate images and expands child‑exploitation definitions to cover computer‑generated or AI‑altered images that are “identifiable” to a real child. Representative Soper, the bill co‑sponsor, said the measure would put Colorado on the same footing as other states and the federal government, and would allow aggravated penalties in certain circumstances.

The committee adopted a set of sponsor amendments that narrowed the child‑exploitation provision to material identifiable to an actual child, removed a provision that would have swept in completely fabricated images, and restored a required mental‑state element (knowing) in the sections that criminalize posting private images for harassment or pecuniary gain.

The measure also creates civil remedies for victims, including disgorgement of profits, liquidated damages and attorney’s fees, and preserves a public‑interest exception for good‑faith reporting. Witnesses from victim‑advocacy organizations, prosecutors and law‑enforcement units said the law is necessary because emerging AI tools have made it easier and faster to produce hyper‑realistic deepfakes and to use them for sextortion, grooming and distribution.

Elizabeth Newman of the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault said AI‑generated deepfakes cause “real and significant negative effects” including harassment, blackmail and reputational harm and urged lawmakers to pass the bill. Jessica Dotter, sexual‑assault resource prosecutor for the District Attorneys’ Council, told the committee that without updated terms police and prosecutors have been unable to obtain justice when an innocent photo is altered into an explicit image.

Law‑enforcement witnesses described rising tip volumes and said some altered images use real children’s photos or pieces of real images. Commander Daniel Thompson, who testified for the Colorado Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said his unit processed 13,162 cyber tips in 2024 and that digitally created and manipulated child‑exploitation images have become common in the networks they investigate.

The committee debated and adopted a contested amendment (L12) that exempts a “provider of the technology used in the creation of an intimate digital depiction” from liability; that amendment passed on a 6‑5 vote after members discussed whether such carve‑outs would blunt incentives for technology firms to implement safeguards. Sponsors said they intend to continue stakeholder work on provider liability and platform responsibilities before the bill advances further.

A final motion to send the amended Senate Bill 288 to the Committee of the Whole passed 8‑3. Sponsors and several witnesses urged follow‑up work and further refinements in the interim, particularly to address completely fabricated imagery and provider responsibilities.